Throttle control for automobiles



April 3, 192s. 1,664,479v

' E. A. MacKEAN THROTTLE CONTROL FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Sept. 50, 1927lnvenTo'r. 2B -Emroe A. Moc Kean 48 26' byylwaQmLf/MM ATB/S.

Patented Apr. 3, 1928i.

y 1,664,479 PATENT OFFICE.

EMROE A. MAexEAN, vor sAUGUs, MASSACHUSETTS. i

THROTTLE CONTROL FOR AUToMoBILEs.

Y Application filed September 30, 1927. Serial `No. 223,179.

This invention relates to the throttle control for automobiles and ithas for its .object to so connect the throttle with theV pedalcontrolling the foot brake that said throttle Willbe actuated by theinitial depressing movement of said pedal but will be released when thepedal is depressed ,toa positiony i sutlicient to apply` the brake.

In most automobilesthe foot brake yconnections are such thatthe footpedalhas ya certain amplitude of Vmovement before ,the bra-ke isapplied, in .some instances it being necessary to depress the pedal`through nearly one-half of its entire stroke before obtaininganyapplication of the brakes. I take advantage of this fact inmyinvention by so connecting the throttle to the foot v.pedal that thethrottle Will belactuated by the initial movements of the pedal -Whichare insutficientto apply the brake.

My invention also provides aconstruction whereby if the foot vpedal issuddenly depressed, as is usually the case when the brakes kare applied,the connection tothe throttle will be disruptedso thatY the VthrottleWill assume idling positionv as the ,brakes are applied. y n

I My improvements ,are in the nature of va safety addition yto anyautomobile lbecause in the casel of an emergency thenatural thing forthe driver to do is to step hard. and

1 quickly on the brake pedal and' many accidents are caused by the fact4,that in anV emergency the operator forgets Vto shift his foot from theaccelerator to the brake ,before .giving the sudden downward pressure,-thel result being that the car `is accelerated instead of havingthebrake applied as vwas intended. Writh my .inventiomboth the throt*tle and the brake are controlled v.by thev same `pedal so that no V`shifting from onecontrol to another is required. The movements ofA theaccelerator are usually of a gentlenature andwvith my invention thegentle initial movements of the foot pedal are those which control Atheaccelerator. In an emergency, however7 when the operatorsinstinct is topress suddenly on the'footvpedal to apply the brakes suchactionautomaticallyy dis rupts the connection to the throttle so as'tocut the'engine to idling `.speed and at the same time applies thebrakes. f Y

In order vto givean understandingofthe invention I have illustrated inthedrayvings a selected embodiment thereof whichV will nowbe describedafter which the -novel feaconnection.

able connection 7.

` ,tions Fig. l.

pointed out in thee-appended Fig. 7 isa fragmentary vieW of the ratchetand pawl. i In Fig. l, l'indicates generally the engine of anautomobile, 2 the intake pipe, 'the carbureter, 4 the lever controllingthe tthrottle, and 5 the rfoot treadle controlling the service brake,said pedal beingpivotedtat Y 6 and connected' to the brake through yasuit- The body of they pedal the foot'boards 8vo'f theilitoinobile asusual and the upper `end `9 Vprojects through the opening l() in vsaidfoot boards.

The foot pedal is connected to ,the throttle y.liever 4 by means' whichare, operative to control thethrottle during the initialmove- `ments o fthe treadle, such `forinstaince as those between the .full rand dottedline posi- The connections to the brake Will be so adjusted that thislinitial movenient of the pedal 5 Will have no veffect in applying4 thebrake, the brake vnot being applied until aft-er the pedal has been de-lpressed below the dotted line position. The l connection I'employbet-Ween the pedal 5 and 'thethrottle arm 4 ,isone which will becomeautomatically disrupted when the .brake pedal/is givenpa. suddenmovementbelow the rdotted .line position so that if 'the brake isapplied suddenly the throttle is automatically restored to idlingposition.

Vhile various devices may be 'employed for.accomplisliing this end Ideem that herein shown to be satisfactory.

i The brake pedal 5 has a link k1 1 pivoted 4. 'lhe A disruptableconnection is hei-ein shown in the'fojrm o f aspring-p'ressedlatchle'which is pivoted to the Ilink ll at l5 and whichnormallyengagesl a pin 16 carried by the end `of an arm 17 which is faston a rock shaft 18, the latter bein'gjournalled in ahousing`19 that isshown as secured tothe is locatedy below Vthereto at 12, said link beingconnected .y through a disruptable connection to another link-13 whichis pivoted tothe throttle arm yns engine 1 yby suitable bolts 20.Thisrock shaft 18 has another arm 21 fast thereon to which the link 13is pivotally connected. The latch 14 is normally held in its voperativeposition shown in Fig. 5 by means of a spring 22 which engages the iiatface 42 of said latch 14. The latch is provided'with a concave face 46arranged to engage the pin 15 and the shape of said latch and thestrength of rthe spring 22 are such that when the link 11 is moved tothe left, Fig. 5, with a lgentle movement the latch willV be maintainedin its operative position shown in Fig. 5 by the spring 22 and themovement 'of the link 11 will thus be transmitted to the arm 17 therebyturning the rock shaft 18, and through the arm 21 swinging Vthe throttlearm 4 and openingthe throttle.

Means are provided whereby'it the toot pedal 5 is given a suddendepressing movement sufficient to apply the brakes the latch 14 willbecome `disconnected-from the pin 16 as shown in Fig. 6 so that themotion vof the pedal will not be transmitted to the throttle and thelatter will'be released from control of the treadle and may thus assumeidling position. To accomplish this I providean inertia device which islin the -form of a rotary weight 28 that is situated within vthe housing19.y This weight is mounted to rotate freely on a. sleeve24 which is linturn supported by a shaft 25 carried by thehousing. The sleeve 24 isformed with a pinion 26 with which meshes a segmental gear 27 carried onthe end of an arm 28 that is fast yon the' rock shaft`18. The sleeve 24is `connected to vthe inertia weight 23 by a paw'l vand ratchet devicewhich comprises a pair of pawls 48 pivoted to the inertia deviceat29and'normally engaging the teethfof the pinion 26,isaid pawls beingacted upon by A springs SOV'which yieldingly hold them in loperativeposition.

Vith this arrangement it will be observed 'that assuming' the brak-epedal is in itslull line rposition the initial downward"movement o'l'ithe brake pedal, ii it is a ge'ntleone,

such as would naturally be used 'in controlling the throttle, will movethe link 11 tothe left, Figs. 1 and 5, and will swing the lever arm 17to the left through the medium of the latch 14. Such a movement of thelever 17 will rock the shai't 18 4and will give a turning Vmovement tothe inertia device and at the same time will rock the arm21 and operatethe connection 13 leading to the throttle arm 4. So long as themovementof rthe pedal 5 is a gentle one within the limits yindicatedsubstantially by the dotted and full line position, Fig. 1, suchmovement will control the kthrottle in the' samemanner as the throttleis controlled bythe ordinary ac- 1 celerator, the inertia. member 23being given a rotary movement commensurate with the movements of thepedal 5. If, however, the

brake pedal 5 is given a sudden depressing movement', such as one would'naturally give it in case of an emergency, the resistance offered by thelinertia of the inertia device'23 will overcome the resiliency of thespring 22 so that the latch 14 will yield backwardly as shown in Fig. 6and will thus wipe overy 'and become released from the pin 16. Vhenspring of the throtttleV does not have to move i the inertia device. Myinvention,vtherefore, obviates the possibility of accidentallyaccelerating the car at the time itis least desirable to do',v so. Y 1 YAs soon as the brake pedal has been-releasedafter the latch hasbeen'automatically disconnected .from the pin 16 the return movement ofthe brake pedal will restore lthe link l11 to its normal position duringVwhich y the latch will wipe over the pin 16-as shown 'by dotted lines,Fig. 6, and said latch will thus automatically be restored to itsoperative position.

If itis desired to apply thefbrakes grad? ually' then the operator will`first* give the brakel pedal a slight kick orl quickY sudden movementsuiiicient to disconnect *theV `latch 14 Jrom the pin 16 and thereafterthe brake pedal may be operated vas easily as desired and without inanyway affecting thethrottle.` The release of the pressure onthe brakepedal will automatically restore the'connec-f tionibetween the brakepedal and throttle A as above described. Y

Iclaim. '.V 1. In an automobile, the combination with a foot brakepeda'hof a throttle-controlling member, a connection between said memberand pedal which will operatey during-the'initial movement oi' the pedaltoy actuate'the throttle-controlling memberbut which will becomedisrupted byfsudden movementV of said pedal.

2. In an automobile, the combinationwith I a foot brake pedal, ofzathrottle-controlling member, a connection between saidmember andpedals'which willtransmitgentle movements fromv the pedal to thecontrolling ilo member but which is disruptable 'under heavy strain, aninertia device associated with said connection vand which interposessuiiicient` resistance to a sudden movement of the pedal to cause saidconnection to. be

, disrupted`- 3. In an automobile, the combination with a foot brakepedal, of athrottle-controlling member, an inerti@ device, a, connectionbetween the latter and the throttle-controlling member, and adisruptable connection between said inertia device and the pedal.

4. In an automobile, thecombination with a foot brake pedal, of athrottle-controlling member, an inertia device, a kconnection betweenthe latter and the throttle-controlling member, and a connection betweensaid inertia device and pedal which will transmit 10 gentle movementsfrom the pedal to the inertia device but which' will become disruptedupon a Sudden movement of the pedal.

`In testimony whereof, I have signed my 'name to this Specification.

EMRoE AMACKEAN.

